OLETA, Calif. – San Diego State senior goalkeeper Tally Hall looked shocked after Saturday’s game against UC Santa Barbara.

He had good reason to be. In the final game of Hall’s college career, SDSU lost 2-1 to the Gauchos, despite leading 1-0 with less than 35 minutes remaining.

Up one with Hall in goal? The man is a semi-finalist for the M.A.C. Hermann Trophy – college soccer’s Heisman. He has allowed fewer than one goal per game. He was on practically everyone’s All-America team.

The lead would be only slightly safer locked up in Fort Knox. It’s an accomplishment to score once on SDSU with Hall in goal.

Somehow, through a combination of weird bounces and questionable calls, UCSB did it twice.

Thus, the look.

He put on a good show afterward. He didn’t ask for any sympathy. He did his duty as a leader and walked around the field picking up his dejected teammates one by one, consoling them.

When he was asked questions, he answered, head held up, eyes locked on the crowd.

But when he was alone with his thoughts, you could see he was replaying those goals over and over in his mind. Oh, that look. It was as if he’d seen a ghost, then been punched in the stomach.

The look was unforgettable. Just like he’ll never forget Saturday.

The unthinkable had happened for Hall.

All season, he had built a brick wall across the Aztec goal, daring you to shoot and laughing when the ball wound up harmlessly in his arms.

When Freddy McDonald got past the Gaucho defense and slipped a ball into the net, McDonald said he knew they were going to the next round.

Then, things unraveled. In roughly 10 minutes, USCB scored twice.

The wind caught a cross and Hall couldn’t recover in time as the ball bounced into the net. Then, the Gauchos rocketed a shot, which was deflected right to defender Andy Iro. Iro was either offsides (if you ask the Aztecs) or in the right spot at the right time (if you ask the Gauchos).

It was just one of those days. No one blamed Hall. He stonewalled UCSB up to that point.

Shot? Punched wide. Breakaway? Save, no problem. Perfect cross? Pulled down.

No one could blame him for the loss.

Well, one person blamed him.

Tally Hall himself.

“I let the team down,” Hall said. “We’re going to look back on this and I’m a senior and I let the team down.”

Don’t cut yourself a break or anything, Tally.

Maybe that’s what makes him so great.

Hall’s that guy who takes charges in pick-up games. The one you’d bet would go full-speed in a charity race against a nun.

That’s why he said he was hoping his team could get the game into penalty kicks. He’d win it for them.

How could he not?

And so, on the long ride home, Hall probably kicked himself, thinking of the different ways he could have made those two saves.

He shouldn’t. Hall’s been the star of one of the best teams on campus for two straight seasons. He deserves a pat on the back. A pat he’ll never give himself, though.

Consider this column one.

-Devin Kunysz is a marketing junior.

-This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec.